Original Release: GT Enterprise, 1983, Arcade
A strange Japanese-German co-production that may well be the first adult arcade game ever made, Lover Boy dialed it up to 10 immediately with explicit commandeered cuddlings
Lover Boy (Arcade, GT Enterprise, 1983)
Where to Buy: eBay
How to Emulate: Arcade Emulation Guide
Review by: Master-B
I believe Lover Boy would be the very first “adult” arcade game ever released, if it is indeed legitimate. However, there seems to be some debate about that.
At first look it appears to be from 1983, and is a maze-chase title very much in keeping with the trends of that time. But there are some indications that it could be a hoax. This site has the most complete history of it that I can find, with a tale of it being developed and published in Germany (by an unknown Tokyo corporation for some reason). The story is basically that its unknown status can be chalked up to it being banned in that country and having copies rounded up and destroyed before it could ever get much exposure (this in spite of it being entirely in English with not a lick of sie Deutsch to be seen).
That site doesn’t cite any sources, however, so who knows. It’s a somewhat plausible explanation of the lack of media coverage (it would have had to crack limited print media at the time and was limited to a country not at the center of the gaming world), but why was an unknown one-off company called “Global Corporation Tokyo” involved, and why is the game in English? And if it was released in such short supply and then taken off the market so quickly, who dumped the romset that works with emulators? Another plausible theory is that it’s a hoax game, a ROM hack of something else (like the similar I’m Sorry) possibly created and slid in by one of the MAME developers.
That’s all up in the air right now. What I can tell you for sure is that it’s actually a solid enough maze-chase of its time, if not a great one. The tepid gameplay isn’t what got it in trouble, rather the fact that it’s The Adventures of Drunken Nakedman (sporting only a surprisingly modern hat) as he comically careens around some little hamlet looking for women to jump on top of. The women attempt to tell him “lalala you never get this” and flee, but when he finally get this, you switch over to a full-screen animation putting you in (minimal) control of the forcible coitus.
Apparently you’re supposed to find a particular rhythm for tapping the button to please each girl, but you’re given so little time it’s kinda hard to determine how it works. You get two or three cracks at each of the ladies before they either randomly disappear from the board or make a run for the police station, the level is cleared when you either thoroughly pleasure them all or they exit in one of these ways.
The wet blanket on your drunken raep party is a collection of hybrid bobbies-Russian Imperial Army soldiers that wander about, with dogs by their side. At first they just roam in a slow and unfocused way, but the girls squealing for help can attract up to three on the board, and the more assaulting you do the faster they move and the more aggressively they pursue you. You’d think the dogs would be a naked man’s worst enemy but they actually seem to never move faster or have any awareness of where you are.
Anyway, it’s pretty tough and I couldn’t get farther than level 4 on a few tries. All the boards seem to have the same layout, they just swap some background graphics. But the girls become more resistant to your button techniques and the bobbies keep getting faster. The second one that deploys is faster than you, but has to pause at corners for some reason. The third one is the Terminator, he just comes after you full-bore and if the remaining girl(s) are too far away you’re just done for.
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